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Thursday, April 16, 2015

Outling

As I recently mentioned, I am in the midst of edits of AWAKEN. Lots of fun...joking, I am not a fan of editing. I needed something new to keep my creative juices flowing.

Enter...STORY WITH A NAME TBD.

I had this idea while reading some news headlines and I was just like WOW. WOW. Oh my gosh. I have to write this story. And, regardless of the million things I need to do this time of year, the idea would not go away. I was growing restless as it grew inside me. I literally could not sleep, I just keep feeling like I had words I needed to vomit. You're welcome for that visual.

I made a deal with myself. Finish three science assignments and you can start outline. Shake? Shake.

So I began to outline...

I have found that there is no exact formula outline. Perhaps for the specific writer there would be a specific formula, but overall, not so much. This is my outline process.

Define my characters. This involves writing out character descriptions, hobbies, as well as negative and positive character traits. Additionally, depending on the character, I write out their relationships to other characters.

Main story lines. These would be just two or three sentences about the main plot(s) of the story. Typically, I have two or three main story lines that I weave together throughout the course of the story

Nitty-gritty details. Lastly, I plan out the scenes of the novel. These are sometimes super detailed or sometimes just a sentence. Depends on the scene...and my mood.

And there you have it, folks! What's your outlining process?

(Remember, I'll be posting Saturday's post a day late! Thanks for reading, have a FABULOUS weekend.)

I'm just now actually trying to start outlining my book ideas (I'm a die hard pantser). I've been trying out the Scrivener trial and it's really cool. I've just been planning out what I know will happen in the books and I can make notes of things to figure out, research, etc.

Boy do I love my outlines! I have been very lucky in finding a formula that works for me. All I outline is the inciting incident, the three important decisions the character makes that he can't go back from. One decision leads him to to the second act, one leads him to the plot twist, and one leads him to the climax. My outlines tend to be shorter than 100 words, but I couldn't survive without them.Wonderful post!

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The Face Behind The Words

Anne Marie J. Schlueter is a 18-year-old in love with Jesus and striving to do His will. She writes, attempts to sing, continuously dances, devours both words and food, cannot sleep with her closet door open, immensely enjoys awkward conversations, and generally has a lovely time at this thing called life.